The Development of Anglican Moral Theology, 1680–1950

Peter H. Sedgwick, Ph.D. (1982), Durham University, was Principal of St. Michael’s College, Cardiff. He is a member of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission, Honorary Research Associate at Cardiff University and a fellow of the Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton, USA. He has published widely, including The Origins of Anglican Moral Theology (Brill, 2018)

"In a typically wide-ranging survey of three centuries of Anglican moral theology, Peter Sedgwick demonstrates the coherence and richness of a tradition which Anglicans today neglect at their peril. Every chapter raises fresh insights into thinkers who, even when seemingly at odds with each, sat inside a framework of moral reasoning which sought to promote holiness, to be practical and pastoral, and to express the worshipping life of the Church. Together with its companion volume covering an earlier period, this is surely the authoritative assessment of the Anglican moral tradition, demonstrating at every turn its enduring relevance." - Canon Dr. Jeremy Morris, National Adviser for Ecumenical Relations for the Church of England

"This is a truly magisterial study, utilizing the best of recent scholarship across a very wide field and offering a coherent, original and fresh account of a major intellectual - and spiritual - tradition. It will be of lasting importance for all students of religious and social history." - Bishop Rowan Williams

"Masterful in breadth, focus, and insight, this is the Anglican story of the different and often juxtaposed accounts of Christian faith and life in Christ that together lead from and to the Church as one and many. Highly recommended for scholars and students alike." Timothy F Sedgwick, Professor Emeritus, Virginia Theological Seminary

"The breadth and depth of Sedgwick’s treatment of his subject make both books suitable for advanced study in the history and development of Anglican moral theology. There is seemingly no publication touching on Anglican moral theology that has escaped Sedgwick’s notice and he has brought that vast amount of material to bear in his scholarship. Those interested in academic debates over the significance of many of the figures whose work is featured, or the intricacies of particular philosophical or theological arguments employed in them, will find much rich food to feed their curiosity... with this important contribution to scholarship on Anglican moral theology, Peter Sedgwick has offered a weighty argument in support of it being a distinctive “exemplary tradition” along the lines that Timothy Sedgwick described, one that is sure to be influential for many years to come, and deservedly so." Scott MacDougall in: Anglican Theological Review (Fall 2025)

"...few will leave this magisterial study unaffected by its breadth, rigor and clarity. It merits close attention in research on post-Reformation ‘Anglicanism’, and will likely succeed in resourcing (if not quite ameliorating) contemporary debates. Students of Anglican theology should consult it; the kernels of many a monograph lie buried in its notes. Those who teach moral theology in any tradition will find it an integral part of their curriculum. Together with his volume, Sedgwick has provided an ambitious genealogical enquiry in both senses: a history of the origins and development of the Anglican moral tradition, and an elaboration of its modes of engaging intellectual challenges, which may well illuminate paths toward a convivial future for the Anglican moral tradition." - Samuel Fornecker in: Journal of Ecclesiastical History 76.4 (2025)

"Even in this lengthy review it is impossible to capture the depth of Sedgwick's remarkable breadth of reading and the subtlety of his scholarship. In a review of his earlier book, Robin Gill was not convinced that a tradition was established. Readers must now decide for themselves..." Bishop Stephen Platten in: Crucible April 2025

"...Sedgwick displays a huge capacity for summarising a formidable range of scholarship. Multiple experts on, say, Hooker, Coleridge, Wesley, Newman, Maurice, and Temple will, no doubt, find fault with some of his details. That is inevitable, as he recognises at certain points, but his sheer courage and industry is itself “exemplary”. It is a great gift to Anglicans worldwide..." Canon Professor Robin Gill, University of Kent in: Church Times August 2024

"In this work, history and moral theology of the Anglicans are rightly intertwined as the author skillfully narrates in his own vivid language how a moral theological history can also be described and analysed in a narrative manner without losing its historical and theological depth. ... In producing this fine work, Sedgwick demonstrates his innate talent not only to narrate the Anglican moral theological history in a linear way but also to describe with details the simultaneous events that surrounded each of the epochs covered. As a matter of fact, the entire narration boils down to a well-researched historical process in which each of the persons and movements mentioned above responds to new questions and challenges that have emerged in very diverse historical contexts down through the centuries covered by this work. It is precisely these unique responses provided by them to such questions and challenges which shaped the making of Anglican moral theology... All in all, Sedgwick is overwhelmingly successful in achieving his main scope of both the volumes published within the span of just six years – to demonstrate that in the ever-developing Anglican moral theology there is continuity, and at the same time diversity of views. In other words, to demonstrate that there indeed is an Anglican moral theology with its own unique identity." Professor Vimal Tirimanna, CSsR, Alphonsianum Academy in: Ecclesiology Vol 21, March 2025

"The Development of Anglican Moral Theology is the second of two volumes charting the development of a distinctively Anglican approach to ethical reflection. These erudite works can be situated in something of a mini renaissance in attempts to articulate an Anglican moral theology....reading the book is itself an induction into an Anglican and English moral imagination. When Anglicans in England seem very confused about what it means to be Anglican and how to undertake moral deliberation together in the Church of England, this book could not be more timely or needed." Canon Professor Luke Bretheron, University of Oxford in: Journal of Anglican Studies, 2025

"Rarely has a book of more depth and erudition come across my desk. This book is properly understood as a tour de force. It is an exercise in genealogical exploration (in a MacIntyrian sense) of the Anglican moral tradition... The book is a powerful antidote to the propensity in the academy to simplify the Anglican tradition under a postcolonial critique and therefore primarily as problematic; the tradition is much more complicated; and the four features – threads, perhaps, is a better word – are worth heeding... This is an exceptional achievement; it is a defining text for the Anglican tradition. It is elegantly written, deeply informed, and utterly compelling." Very Revd Dr Ian Markham, Dean Virginial Theological Seminary, USA. in: Theology 2024

Contents
Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part 1: 1680–1830

1 The Changing Interpretation of English Religion, 1680–1750
 1 Introduction: The Shape of the First Two Chapters
 2 J. C. D. Clark and the Rethinking of English Politics after 1688
 3 Religion in English Society after 1688
 4 Religion in the Early Enlightenment
 5 Conclusion

2 Theology and the English Enlightenment, 1660–1720
 1 The End of the Reformation in Europe, and the Challenge to Christian Orthodoxy
 2 Revelation and Scripture in the Early Enlightenment
 3 Reason in the Early Enlightenment
 4 Thomas Hobbes
 5 John Locke and Empiricism
 6 The End of the Seventeenth Century in England: Cambridge Platonism and the Latitudinarians
 7 Shaftesbury and the Moral Sense School
 8 The Challenge of Shaftesbury to Orthodox Christianity

3 Joseph Butler’s Rolls Sermons
 1 Butler’s Early Life and Education
 2 Butler and Samuel Clarke
 3 Butler’s Later Life, 1721–1752
 4 Butler’s Refutation of Hobbes
 5 Butler on Shaftesbury and Hutcheson
 6 Butler’s Critique of Locke: Religious Affections
 7 Butler’s Critique of Locke: Personal Identity
 8 Butler on ‘Superior Principles’
 9 Butler on Benevolence
 10 Butler on Self-Love
 11 Butler on Conscience
 12 Butler on Self-Deceit
 13 The Significance of Butler

4 William Law
 1 Introduction
 2 Law’s Life
 3 Law as a Non-Juror
 4 Law as Controversialist: Hoadly
 5 Law as Controversialist: Mandeville
 6 A Serious Call: Vocation
 7 A Serious Call: Asceticism
 8 A Serious Call: Literary Style
 9 A Serious Call: Celibacy and Virginity
 10 A Serious Call: An Ecclesial Ethic
 11 A Serious Call: The Place of Reason
 12 A Serious Call: Sanctification
 13 Conclusion

5 Anglican Moral Theology, 1730–1800: Gay, Tucker, Paley and Wesley
 1 Introduction
 2 The Mid-Eighteenth Century and the Influence of Locke
 3 John Gay and Theological Utilitarianism
 4 Edmund Law and Richard Watson on Moral Teaching and Conscience
 5 William Paley and Later Theological Utilitarianism
 6 The Demise of Theological Utilitarianism
 7 John Wesley: Context and Life
 8 Wesley and Sanctification
 9 Wesley and Butler
 10 Wesley and Enthusiasm
 11 Wesley on Emotion in Moral Judgement
 12 Conclusion

6 Coleridge
 1 Introduction
 2 The Re-evaluation of Coleridge
 3 Coleridge’s Life
 4 Coleridge on Paley and Jeremy Taylor
 5 Coleridge’s Reading of Neoplatonism
 6 Coleridge and Kant
 7 Coleridge and Aids to Reflection
 8 Coleridge’s Legacy
 9 Conclusion

Conclusion to Part 1

Part 2: 1830–1950

7 John Henry Newman
 1 Introduction: The Changing Historiography on Newman
 2 The Anglican Newman
 3 Newman’s Life
 4 The Break with Evangelicalism
 5 Newman on Humility
 6 The Parochial Sermons
 7 The University Sermons
 8 Newman on Moral Character
 9 Newman on Conscience
 10 Newman on Personal Influence and Justice
 11 Newman on Personal Responsibility
 12 The Influence of Anglican Theologians: The Carolines
 13 The Influence of Anglican Theologians: Butler
 14 The Influence of Anglican Theologians: Coleridge
 15 Conclusion

8 Frederick Denison Maurice
 1 Introduction
 2 Maurice’s Life
 3 Moral Philosophy at Cambridge
 4 Coleridge’s Influence on Maurice
 5 Maurice’s Theological Anthropology
 6 Maurice on Conscience
 7 Biblical Theology and Christian Ethics
 8 Criticisms of Maurice’s Theology
 9 Maurice’s Contribution to Anglican Moral Theology

9 The Lux Mundi School
 1 Introduction
 2 The Influence of John Stuart Mill and Utilitarianism
 3 The Lux Mundi Theologians: Charles Gore, Henry Scott Holland and R. C. Moberly
 4 Philosophical Idealism at Oxford
 5 Green’s Moral Philosophy
 6 Bradley on Self-Realization
 7 Donald MacKinnon on the British Idealists
 8 Gore on Christ’s Moral Character
 9 Gore on Social Morality
 10 Holland on Faith and Moral Will
 11 Holland on Christian Moral Character
 12 Moberly on Self-Realization
 13 Inge’s Response to Moberly’s Idealism
 14 Moberly on Penitence and Beauty
 15 Conclusion

10 William Temple’s Christian Ethics
 1 Introduction
 2 Temple’s Life
 3 Edward Caird and William Temple
 4 The Faith and Modern Thought
 5 The Nature of Personality
 6 Mens Creatrix
 7 Christus Veritas
 8 Nature, Man and God
 9 Reviews of Nature, Man and God
 10 Temple’s Later Theology in the 1930s
 11 Temple’s Aquinas Lecture, 1943
 12 Temple’s Significance

11 Kenneth Kirk: History and Casuistry
 1 Introduction
 2 The Revival of Thomism and the First World War
 3 Kirk’s Life
 4 Casuistry and Conscience
 5 How the Church Can Change Its Mind
 6 Lambeth Conference, 1930
 7 The Vision of God
 8 Contemporary Anglican Moral Theologians on Kirk
 9 Conclusion

Conclusion: Anglican Moral Theology 1680–1950
Bibliography
Index

All interested in Christian ethics, moral theology, modern European intellectual history and Anglicanism; scholars and students of theology; those training for the Anglican ministry.